[RoS: Meridian] Updates for Phase I and Beyond

[RoS: Meridian] Updates for Phase I and Beyond

10/19/2018,
9:03 PM,
Grand Master - Dark Council

Greetings all,

The first phase of RoS: Meridian will be coming to a close at the end of the day (site time!) on 10/22/2018. Before the phase comes to a close, I wanted to clarify a few things, highlight some of our goals design-wise here, and issue some reminders from various Dark Councilors.

RoS Timeline

As a quick recap, the RoS timeline is below. All days indicated are "site time", and the event concludes with the end of Phase III:

Phase I: 10/14 - 10/22
Phase II: 10/27-11/5
Phase III: 11/10-11/19

Updated to competitions regarding participation

We have made a few minor updates to competitions regarding participation values and placement values to match our original intent, and have ensured that the parent competition properly reflects the points earned for participating in at least one competition per bin. In general, this is just a matter of standardizing across bins (e.g. some competitions had the wrong values for participation or placement), and making sure each competition reflects the fact that completing all bins in a given phase will award a bonus point value - and what that value is. For each week-long phase, that is 3 points, and for the Event Long Phase, that bonus is 5 points. Feel free to email us if you have noticed what you think is an error in the values of competitions.

Participation and Scoring in RoS: Meridian

The Rite of Supremacy uses a scoring system very similar to the system we used for the Great Jedi War, which I detailed in the past. The goal of this system is that we provide a balanced system that keeps the points from participation and placement in balance (and allows us to specify what that balance means). Notably different from the Great Jedi War is that participation points contribute three fourts of all points to the competition; this 'flips' the Great Jedi War point scale, where placement was three fourths.

To recap the scoring, a brief overview of the event is needed. For those of you just tuning in, the Rite of Supremacy is divided into four phases - Phase I, II, and III, and an Event Long phase. Each of these phases contain multiuple competitions, which are divided into bins.

Members earn points by: 1) Making a valid submission to a competition in a bin for the first time (e.g. submitting to either Fiction or Graphics in the Phase I Fiction/Graphics Bin; submtiting to both does not earn you extra points, but gives you a shot to place in both), 2) Having a valid submission to at least one competition in all bins in a phase (e.g. submitting to each of the three bins in Phase I), 3) Earning placement points from placing in any competition.

Because the number of bins and the difficulty of competitions varies, the points earned for participating in a given bin (#1) above, as well as the points earned for completing all the bins in a phase (#2 above) varies depending on the bin and phase. Placement points also vary per competition - competitions the Dark Council consider more skillful will award more placement points. Competitions themselves mention the relative number of points given for placement, as well as the points for participation.

Because participation means so much, we also work to level the relative playing field of unit sizes. In discussions with summits in the past, our method of doing became referred to as 'ghost members.' In essence, this system grants units participation points based on their unit activity and relative size. The way this works is that we create a set of 'ghost members' for each unit, based on the size difference from our largest unit, and have them participate at the same rate (and with the same participation points) as the average member of that particular unit. In this way, unit sizes are partially adjusted, although this doesn't account for differences in placement points.

Design philosophy

During typical Vendettas, we have event long competitions and some number of phases. This often makes it very difficult for members to concentrate well on event long competitions. Moreover, the two-week phases are often very intense in and of themselves, sometimes with as many or more competition options as the longer, event long phases. For this RoS, we tried to flip this on its head. The Phases will be only a little over a week, and will only have three bins. We grouped Fiction and Graphics together, to reduce what members had to do to get full bin participation. Moreover, we have provided many competitions - and many of them having some complexity - for event long activities. By taking two separate week long breaks from weekly competitions in the RoS, we hope members can really focus on writing excellent collaborative fiction, being creative, and being the best gamers they can.

We also wanted a chance to have multiple phases, where members could interact with the plot in a different way. You'll notice that in the Fiction/Graphics bin for each week, there will be prompt choices. These choices are tied in part to how the story for the event will move forward, and members directly contribute to which direction the fiction takes by participating in one of the three prompts - something we will make sure is clear in all future competitions (as it is in Fiction this week).

Notes from the Council: Email questions!

During any large event there will be plenty of questions, from large to small. Because of the number of chats we are tracking, and our desire to ensure that we are getting members the exact same information, please always use email to ask any major question about participation, competition language, or rules during this Vendetta. Consuls are a great starting point to ask for clarification, as many of them have already seen/heard questions and had answers, but we are always willing to help out... it is just easier on us if this is done by email!

Notes from the Council: Gaming and chat policies during the Vendetta

In order to keep #DBGaming clear for match formation, the Fist has instituted a heavier moderation than usual, and the chat is to be used strictly for the formation of matches. This will be relaxed following the RoS, but has been instituted to keep chat traffic as clear as possible due to repeated complaints in the past about the difficulty of using the channel to find matches. By the same token, do not set up PvP matches in private messages and only in DB Gaming, and make sure to announce PvO where relevant, too.

Notes from the Council: First posts due for Objective-Based Team Fiction / Run - On

The Objective-Based Team fiction (run-on-like) event requires that all teams have addressed their first objective by October 28th, as per the [competition details](https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/competitions/14297. If a team fails to do so, they may still quality for participation if an individual fulfills their posting obligations, but the team will receive no placement points.

Notes from the Council: Recent DC News Posts and Updates

In case you missed them the first time around, a few important updates from the Dark Council below: